Xmen: Life after Death
by leowhitelighter
Summary: Peter is a boy living in a hostel, drained by the memories of his past. Storm becomes before him and a group of friends to tell them they they have powers and to invite them into the academy, the rest is yet to come
1. New Life

The academy had been left in panicked flurry ever since the loss of the professor. Staff worked their fingers to the bone to pick up the pieces, Storm desperately attempting to regain the moral to its former glory. Since the incident, the number of new applicants to the academy had dropped by more than half, not to mention the students that dropped out in fear of another battle. Even with the dwindling freshmen, young mutants still had the desire to learn, grow, practice or even to get away from their confinements. Some wanted to get into the academy, others were persuaded, but some, just some, needed it….

Peter flipped through the album daily, time unravelling and releasing the memories once again. Nobody, not even Peter knew where his parents had gone, they just…disappeared, leaving a black and white marble in his palm the night they went. Even at 16, Peter kept it in one of the many pockets in his combats, unwise to its meaning and unclear to its relevance.

He wasn't the only kid at the hostel, there were many others but only a few that Peter felt close to, even considering most of his 'friends' teased him about his dark brown hair that barely enabled him to see. Yes, Peter was the alternative one so to speak. Jack was the typical boy-boy, the hard-man the one every other boy wanted to be and every girl wanted to date or as the rest of the group said, was the one most likely to start of life great and end up an adulterate fat man. Sarah and Kate loved to be the girly girls, doing each other's hair, dependant on boys and drooling over Jack of course. The only other girl in the group remained somewhat of a mystery to Peter, always off somewhere, never stopping, yet always calming no matter how rushed. Even though the group was a kind of unorthodox circus, they did absolutely everything together, and this never changed, even with the arrival of a well known mutant, Storm.

Jack of course was thrilled with the news that he had some kind of power, the girls were marginally pleased yet Peter remained apprehensive. It had been a new rule to the academy put forward by Storm that students should be picked before they realised they had a power, this way they could be trained from scratch and allowed them to be placed into classes befitting not only their level but also their ability.

"Whoa mate I'm psyched, we get to get out of this hell hole once and for all, when do we go?"

"If you're ready, right now" Storm looked at Pete and could see that not everyone was as assured at Jack.

"You're not sure about this are you?"

"You're telepathic I guess"

"Hehe..no… it's just easy to see when someone is nervous, especially when you are almost cutting off the circulation to your friend's hand"

"Huh?" She was right, Peter was gripping so tightly onto Laura's hand that the pain was almost too hard to bear, he quickly released her.

"Thank god Petey, what's the matter with you, grow up, it's only a school for crying out loud"

"I promise, you will be looked after, now as I said, if you're ready…"


	2. Power Struggle

The academy seemed rather small on first impressions yet as the ship circled around to the courts, a form of trickery was revealed, the building was immense and engulfed the group into a world of awe and amazement. Strom directed all five of them to a large, seemingly empty room.

"Now children, thanks to one of the elder students we have been able to create not only a neutral battlefield but the potentia aperios."

"What the fuck is that?"

"Firstly Jack it is against the rules here to swear and secondly it is a room to reveal the nature of your power by forcing you to use it"

"How does it do it?"

"_It_ doesn't, you do"

A mutual feeling of 'huh' dominoed through the group

"Well, a mutant's power can always be unmasked by a point in time in which the mutant needs it the most, you'll see…oh and something I haven't told you yet….Its important that the present students know who has what power, so they will be watching you, don't be too nervous"

"Whoa ye, I'm first, what do I do"

"Stand on the centre circle and wait for us to leave then you'll understand Jack"

Storm, Peter and the girls went back behind the protection boundary which although seemed to be glass, was in fact some kind of jelly-like substance, this fact unearthed by Kate who got her hair stuck in it, not the best first impression. Moments later a countdown started….5……4……3…..2…..1…..BEGIN.

Instantly, the floor of the hall began to crack under Jack's feet, crumbling away with the slightest touch revealing the danger beneath. It was hard to see exactly but Peter, being the tallest had the best view and screamed "Lava, you put him in a pool of lava! You're insane, get him out of their now, he cant keep on running forever!"

Storm consoled him "Just wait, he'll be fine, I don't know exactly how but he will be"

Space to run was dwindling, yet the fear on Jacks face had risen well above anything the group had ever seen, he had always been the strong one, yet obviously, he was like the rest of them. Jack was forced to make a large jump to the other side of the hall, with the crack widening. A gasp of relief echoed through the students as he caught on to the side, yet relief was in vain as the lava cliff gave way and his body hurtled down towards the boiling inferno. Seconds before imminent death his screams halted and his eyes closed, unexplainably his body began to rise, straight as it had fallen. When his body came into view, the school could see exactly what had happened, a thin slice of rock carried him away from the rock and onto solid ground. Instantaneously the potentia aperios floor had returned to its initial state and emotions had flat-lined. Jack was psyched but moments later his eyes rolled back and he fainted, cushioned by some kind of air bag formed with a flick of the wrist from Storm.

"So kids, your friend here is silexkinetic"

"A what?"

"Heh, he controls rock, stone, earth etc"

With a new found confidence, Kate pushed forward to be the next one up, sure of herself that her power would be more powerful than Jacks. She stepped forward onto the circle, ready for what was to come…..


End file.
